No. 21 Michigan likely will fall out of the Associated Press Top 25 before it plays host to Penn State on Monday night in Ann Arbor, Mich., following a humbling 91-64 defeat against No. 11 Purdue on Friday.
But first-year Wolverines coach Dusty May wants his team to use the loss as a tool from which to build.
“Hopefully, we look back at this as a fork in the road where we go in the right direction, learn from this and keep it moving,” May said.
The first lesson for Michigan (14-5, 6-2 Big Ten): Good teams have bad games when they don’t match the other team’s intensity.
Call it a matter of bad timing. The Wolverines were facing the Boilermakers, who came out breathing fire after a surprise home loss to Ohio State. Michigan fell behind early and never recovered.
The Wolverines had season-high 22 turnovers Friday and now face the Nittany Lions (13-7, 3-6), who thrive when forcing teams to give away the ball. While Penn State’s has been shaky since the start of conference play, it does own a convincing win over Purdue.
It was how the Wolverines lost that bothered May the most Friday.
“They (only) lose here every couple of years for a reason,” May said. “We didn’t play well. Purdue played very well. It’s more the competitive spirit that we didn’t play with that’s most disappointing.”
Michigan will try to get going again behind versatile 7-foot-1 center Vladislav Goldin, whose 16.3 points per game lead five Wolverines players in double figures. They rank seventh in Division I in field goal percentage at 50.0 percent and are 12th in assists at 17.9 per game.
Penn State is coming off a disappointing 76-75 defeat Friday night at Iowa, its fifth loss in six games. The Nittany Lions had two possessions to win the game after holding the Hawkeyes scoreless over the last 3:28 but missed a pair of 3-pointers on the first possession and couldn’t get off a shot in the final three seconds to seal the outcome.
Nick Kern Jr. scored a team-high 18 points on Friday night, continuing the best year of his career. The 6-6 guard is averaging 12.9 points, the first time he’s been in double figures in four seasons, and is shooting 60.9 percent from the field.
“He makes winning plays,” said Penn State coach Mike Rhoades of Kern. “His edge over his opponent is how hard he plays, the edge and competitiveness he has, and we need that to continue to rub off on other guys.”
Six players are averaging in double figures for the Nittany Lions, led by point guard Ace Baldwin (14.3 points, 8.0 assists). They are 19th in scoring at 83.8 points per game.
Michigan owns a 39-17 lead in the all-time series, including 23-3 at home, but Penn State won both matchups last season. That included a two-point decision in the conference tournament in Minneapolis.
–Field Level Media
